Jane Espenson: Once Upon a Torchwood Web Series

Jane Espenson has an incredible resume; after working as writer or producer on what seems like every genre show *ever* (seriously, how does she find the time? Does she have a TARDIS?), she's about to get even busier. Today, she announced via Twitter that she would be working on Once Upon a Time, a fantasy TV series picked up by ABC earlier this week. Once Upon a Time stars Jennifer Morrison, a series regular on House and most recently seen on How I Met Your Mother, as a bail bondsman in the town of Storybrooke, surrounded by fairy tale characters engaged in a grim (!) battle for the future. Once Upon a Time also stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Robert Carlyle, and Pirates of the Caribbean’s Lee Arenberg. It was created by Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis, executive producers of Lost and screenwriters of Tron: Legacy.

Then Ms. Espenson tweeted that she would be working on a web series spin-off from Torchwood: Miracle Day, the fourth season of Torchwood, which is currently filming for a July premiere on Starz. (Torchwood itself being a spin-off from Doctor Who makes this a spin-off from a spin-off, if you will.) Espenson confirmed via her Twitter account that Torchwood web content, entitled Torchwood: Web of Lies, would run concurrently with Torchwood: Miracle Day. "Enjoy all the Torchwood brands! We have faith in Torchwood: Web of Lies. It's tru; there's an echo of my past work in this spinoff."

The words ‘faith’, 'tru', and 'echo' apparently reference Eliza Dushku's previous characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, Tru Calling, and Dollhouse, leading fans to anticipate Eliza Dushku's participation in the online component of Torchwood. Additionally, although his involvement isn’t planned for Miracle Day, James Marsters, who worked with Espenson and Dushku on Buffy, and on Espenson's BSG spin-off Caprica, is anxious to reprise his role as Captain John Hart from Season 2 of Torchwood. Airlock Alpha reported last year that "Russell is over here [in Los Angeles] trying to get an American version of it done ... If he doesn't call me, I am going to find him."